Dec. 2, 2013
Vol. 2 Issue 152
DAILY DIGEST
SAILORS OF RADIO CENTRAL
KEEP NIMITZ CONNECTED Story by MC3 Linda S. Swearingen
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here’s a space on board Nimitz that is so secret the Sailors who work there have their own slogan. “We have a saying in radio: ‘They may talk about us, but they can’t talk without us,’” said Information Systems Technician 3rd Class Rickie W. Arnold, of Houston. There are 28 Information Systems Technicians (IT) that currently work in radio central on board. “There are ITs who work in radio, CS2 information assurance and EKMS [electronic key management systems] that deal with [communication] materials and issue gear and keys to us every month,” said Arnold. “The ITs who work in IA [information assurance] make sure no one is hacking into our internet.” Radio is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week by at least two ITs at a time, whether
or not Nimitz is out to sea or in its homeport of Everett, Wash. “We work 12-hour shifts and there are at least two people at all times in radio because of the integrity with the top secret material we have, and everyone has a top secret clearance,” said Arnold. The main job of the ITs who work in radio is to handle all the communication that goes off the ship or is sent to the ship. “Through the circuits we can communicate with other ships or shore stations,” said Arnold.
“We’re the internet service provider [ISP] on board. We handle all the message traffic on board. Anytime a message is sent regarding a RAS [replenishmentat-sea], pulling into port or incidents that happen on board we handle it.” A typical day working in radio can range from being calm and quiet to being very hectic. “Working in radio consists of maintaining tactical voice and data communication circuits, I.P. [Internet Protocol] connectivity and process incoming and Continued on page 3